The invention relates to a method for operating a vehicle, in particular a watercraft, an apparatus for operating the vehicle, and to a vehicle, in particular a watercraft, for carrying out the method and/or having the apparatus.
Watercraft, in particular ships, regularly cross national frontiers and thus enter regions with different exhaust regulations applicable to watercraft. For example, there are significant differences between the pollutant emissions allowed on the open seas and the permissible pollutant emissions in inshore regions of North America and Europe (referred to as Emission Controlled Areas or ECA, for short). Thus, in certain ECAs, for example, it is currently the case that only a fuel with a sulphur content of 15 ppm to 1000 ppm can be used, while a sulphur content of 1.5% to 3% is permissible on the open seas. When a watercraft operated with a combustion engine enters such an ECA, the type of fuel is therefore usually switched over from high-sulphur fuel to low-sulphur fuel. Currently, this switch is performed manually, i.e., through active intervention by the crew. However, manual switching results in a high failure rate owing to incorrect operation. In addition, the timing of the switch is often not ideal, i.e., the switch is performed either too early or too late. While a premature switch when entering an ECA leads to economic disadvantages for the ship's operator, an excessively late switch leads to the ship entering the ECA with pollutant emissions that are too high.
Owing to ever stricter exhaust regulations, it is furthermore necessary to provide exhaust gas aftertreatment systems even on watercraft.